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Sunday, April 8, 2018

A bit about Isaac Asimov


cj Sez: I got to reading about science fiction and came across the preeminent author in the genre, Isaac Azimov. 

When I discovered the anniversary of his death was April 6, the proximity to the date of this post sent me down a rabbit hole of research on his life and writings.

There is a wealth of information out there (two sites are referenced at the bottom of the post). Here are some of the comments about his books and life:

This prolific writer, whose writings included violence, is attributed with this quote:
 “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
Isaac Asimov's first published book-length work was Pebble in the Sky in 1950, but he didn’t start writing full time until after publication (in 1960) of The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science earned him a decent income.

Asimov was claustrophobic and preferred to write in small, windowless rooms. He routinely sat at his typewriter from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and churned out as many as ten books a year. During his lifetime, he published 40 novels, 382 short stories, and more than 280 non-fiction books.

“If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I’d type a little faster.”

Nightfall was originally a short story written in 1941. Twenty-three years later, it was voted the best short science fiction story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America.

I, Robot, published in 1950, is a collection of nine previously published short stories that are woven together as a 21st-century interview with a fictional robopsychologist. The collection was followed by four full novels.

Asimov coined the term “robotics.”

Although he wrote books that featured space flight, he flew only twice in his lifetime and that was while in the military.

The noted American author and biochemist was born Isaac Yudovich Ozimov sometime between October 4, 1919, and January 2, 1920, in Russia. Since there were no accurate records of his birth, he chose January 2 as his birthday.

He became a U.S. citizen when he was eight, began to write short stories at age eleven, and became a paid contributor to science fiction magazines before he was twenty.

His father did not approve of him reading pulp science fiction, so Isaac pointed to the word “science” in the titles and said it was educational material.

Isaac Asimov died on April 6, 1992, after having contracted HIV from a blood transfusion during the triple bypass operation he had in 1983.



That’s it for this post. I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets lost for hours down a research rabbit hole. Where did your last research rabbit hole take you? Care to share on this blog? Let’s discuss that.

Okay, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj
I’ll leave you with one of the 5-star reviews of Choosing Carter:
  
This was a great read. Being part of Crimson Romance, I was expecting a standard romance. I was pleasantly surprised with the suspenseful action that I found instead. The book has a romantic element to it, but it is truly a suspense novel. You follow these characters through the Colorado wilderness trying to stop terrorists. The characters are fun, and this novel is a real page turner. We get into Byrn's head well, but I wish a little more time was spent on Carter, his chapters were always short. A very fun read, and full of suspense with great chapter endings that had you on the edge of your seat. I would recommend to any fans of suspense.

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